Keep your Feet in the Street

Last night we had a little birthday party for Ken; his birthday was Thursday, the 18th.
I asked everyone to bring a Pinot Noir (one of his favorite wines) in a brown paper bag. So, we had a blind tasting and it was really fun.
The Hahn, Montery, was the consensus winner. I liked the Beringer, Napa Valley the best myself--it seemed more complex and had a nice finish but I liked the Hahn, too. I had bought the Bethel Heights from Willamette, which I think was probably the most expensive at $30, but it didn't show well. Maybe that was because we tasted it first--I'm not sure--but people just didn't like it so much. The 2 least favorites were the Summerland, Montery County, which had a very light cherry color and flavor to match, and the Coppola. The last was the least expensive--we used to buy it for our "house" wine but we got tired of it.

We had lots of great food--a cheese platter which included the wonderful, local, Sweet Grass Dairy, soft cheese and others. I made pork tenderloins on the grill (Wow! they are so easy and delicious) which I rubbed with herbs and salt and pepper. And I bought little rolls and had mustards and fig chutney. Cecelia made her "signature" roasted tomato crostini and they were fantastic. We had lots of other stuff, too.

I made Ken a birthday cake--yellow cake with raspberries and whipped cream between the layers and chocolate ganche in the center of the 4 layers. I wish I remembered to take a picture.

And we watched Florida State in an ugly loss to Wake Forest.

It was really an enjoyable evening!